© EuroFootball.com
The Lithuanian national football team will start preparing for the 2016 European Championship qualifying tournament next week and will play their first friendly match. The opponents of our team in Turkey on March 5th will be the footballers of Kazakhstan.
21 players have been invited to the team for this match. Almost all players played in friendly matches in Moldova last November.
After the break, the team welcomed defenders Egidijus Vaitkūnas and Aurimas Vilkaitis, as well as recovered safeties Gratas Sirgėdas and Arvydas Novikovas.
"The composition of the team selected for the last qualifying cycle matches and in Moldova justified our, coaches', hopes. Therefore, we decided to trust the same core of players and continue working with it," said national team coach Igoris Pankratjevas. "However, that does not mean that the doors to the team are already closed for any player - young or old. Each player can prove that they deserve a spot in the team. We have an extended list of candidates and in order to achieve results in the next two years, every help may be needed. No one is safe from injuries."
According to the coach, the upcoming friendly matches will be useful in improving the team's mutual understanding: "We do not have world-class stars in Lithuania, so one of the most important factors for our success can be cohesive team work, good play together and a friendly collective."
Before the start of the European Championship qualifying tournament in September, the Lithuanian national team plans a total of four rehearsals. The first Lithuanian opponent next Wednesday will be Kazakhstan, whom they have not met before.
"We watched the videos of the last Kazakhstan matches, so we have formed a certain image. But it should still change, as a new coach - Russian Yuri Krasnozhan - took over the team. Almost all players play in Kazakhstan, a few represented Karagandy's successful "Shakhter" in Europe," said I. Pankratjevas.
A part of the national team delegation leaving from Vilnius to Turkey will depart early Monday morning. The match between Kazakhstan and the Lithuanian national teams will take place on March 5th at the Mardan Sports Complex stadium in Antalya, starting at 5 pm.
Composition of the Lithuanian national team for the match against Kazakhstan:
Goalkeepers: Giedrius Arlauskis (Rubin Kazan, Russia) Emilijus Zubas (Viborg FF, Denmark) Defenders: Tadas Kijanskas (Hapoel Haifa, Israel) Vytautas Andriuškevičius (Djurgarden Stockholm, Sweden) Valdemar Borovskij (Daugava Riga, Latvia) Marius Žaliūkas (Leeds United AFC, England) Georgas Freidgeimas (Vilnius MFD Zalgiris) Egidijus Vaitkūnas (Bohemians 1905 Prague, Czech Republic) Aurimas Vilkaitis (Lazio Rome, Italy) Safeties: Saulius Mikoliūnas (FC Sevastopol, Ukraine) Mindaugas Panka (Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona, Israel) Mindaugas Kalonas (Simurq Zakatala, Azerbaijan) Fedor Černych (Dnepr Mogilev, Belarus) Gediminas Vičius (Shakhter Karagandy, Kazakhstan) Karolis Chvedukas (Suduva Marijampole) Arvydas Novikovas (Erzgebirge Aue, Germany) Deimantas Petravičius (Nottingham Forest FC, England) Gratas Sirgėdas (VfB Stuttgart, Germany) Forwards: Nerijus Valskis (CS Universitatea Craiova, Romania) Simonas Stankevičius (Leicester City, England) Lukas Spalvis (Aalborg BK, Denmark)
